You Prat
by horcrux happy
Summary: Only when you’re being a big prat, which is, admittedly, a large part of your life, but you’re not always terrible. JamesLily, one shot. Read and review, please!


Author's Note: Thanks to my beta Paddy for some ideas for this story! It takes place in the Marauders' 7th year, and Lily is waging war on herself because she's starting to give in to James' pursuits, and she's noticing that he isn't acting so annoying anymore. (Most of the self-argument is off-screen, so I'm leaving it to your imaginations!) I'll edit this story further when I'm not as busy; this week is hectic.

"Oi, Evans!" A voice rang through the field in back of the sprawling castle. Lily Evans knew that voice; after all, she had only heard it a million times, and every time it was to annoy her. She knew he didn't mean to be that annoying; he was just cocky. And he was trying to win her over. She had forgotten that minor drawback.

She whipped around, red hair flying in the wind, giving her the air of someone gone slightly mad. "What are you griping about this time, Potter?" She called, catching James' gaze and seeing him smirk. That smirk. It irked her beyond belief, but there wasn't a concrete reason. Maybe it was just because he was an arrogant, bullying toerag, or maybe there was another reason… She shook it off.

James was getting up from under that tree he always sat under. His friends were under that tree, too. Sirius Black. Lily snorted subconsciously. He was a terrible influence, and probably the reason why James was so self-absorbed. Peter Pettigrew. Lily never understood why he hung out with James and Sirius; he could definitely find better friends that weren't so bigheaded that they believed all the girls in school loved them. (But, as Lily hated to admit, most of the girls in the school did love them.) Remus Lupin. Lily shook her head. He was such a good person! Prefect, near top of the class, second to only herself, of course, but why he chose the two most arrogant boys in the school as company, she'd never know.

"We have Head Duties today. Ready to patrol with me?" He smirked again, that horrible smirk that Lily hated so, but seemed odd today… It even seemed kind of attractive. Lily blinked. Did she really just think that? Mentally noting to slap herself senseless later, she looked up at him. Why is he so tall? James stuck out his arm as if they were going to patrol the grounds right now, and almost like they were dates to a ball. Lily smirked back at him, mockingly, and slapped his arm, hard.

"We don't patrol until night, Potter, so be sure to show up on time." She said. He had been showing up late the last few days, and she was suspicious. She knew that Lupin was a werewolf, but it wasn't even close to the full moon. Lily whipped around, her hair hitting James full in the face. "I'll see you later, then." Walking away, she had a nagging curiosity as to what James and his friends were up to after hours.

Why was it that she thought he was attractive? Frankly, he was rather good-looking; it was just his personality that was foul. She continued arguing with herself, but acted as though nothing was gnawing at her insides while with her friends.

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Lily's hair had hit him straight in the face. It smelled good; kind of like peppermint and strawberries. With his arm still stinging from the slap she had given him just moments ago, he returned to the big tree he had been sitting under.

"What was all that about, mate?" Sirius said, taking a bite out of an apple he had conjured out of nowhere. "Seems like she got you again."

James stared off over the lake. It wasn't even just infatuation with her anymore; it was past intrigue and obsession. It was getting to the point of love. But love had to be returned; unrequited love wasn't even really love. He blinked, coming back to focus. "Yeah. Sort of." He responded distractedly, letting the snitch in his hand wander out just past Sirius' head and snatching it out of the air again. Putting the snitch in his pocket, he resolved to change his ways. _Merlin, that'll be impossible_.

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Lily waited at the bottom of the boys' dormitory stairs, arms crossed and tapping her foot. James was late. _Again_. She couldn't fathom why he would be late so many days in a row. What could be taking him so long? She suddenly whipped around so fast and so hard that she smacked her hand into the railing of the stairs and gave herself a bit of an ache in the head when she heard a noise coming from behind her, where the portrait hole was. It was James, panting as if he had run a great distance and tucking something away in his bag. It looked kind of like a cloak, but there was something different that Lily couldn't quite put her finger on, but she brushed the nuisance away and glared at him. "You're late again. What is it that keeps you every day from showing up on times for duty? Honestly!" She said, quickly walking toward the portrait hole. "Coming?" James was standing there, looking a bit shocked. Coming to his senses, he followed Lily without saying a word.

After an hour patrolling the seventh floor, they headed down the stairs to the sixth floor, and James finally spoke. It was quite disturbing that he hadn't spoken at all while they were on duty yet; Lily usually threatened to hex him until he was capable of speech because he would talk her ears off.

"Lily, do you hate me?" He asked quietly, not looking directly at her. She stopped, but not wanting to seem suspicious, decided it would be best to keep going. She had never really thought about it. She loathed him, sure, but only when he was being a fool. For the last hour, she had actually enjoyed his company, if only because he was silent the entire time. He wasn't entirely unpleasant; when he wasn't around Sirius, he could actually be quite nice and considerate. But that could just be an act to win Lily over. She wasn't entirely sure that he was succeeding, either, but it must have started to work because he had been so persistent about it. She had to give him credit; she had never seen someone like him pursue a girl for so long and even though other girls would have flung themselves at his feet to date him, he went after the one girl that refused to speak to him the first week of school. She thought for a few more minutes, and James waited patiently for her answer. "No, I suppose I don't." She said, choosing her words carefully. "Only when you're being a big prat, which is, admittedly, a large part of your life, but you're not always terrible."

James smirked again, although it was softened. "So if I was less of a prat, would you date me?"

"Don't count on it." Lily snapped, motioning for him to be silent, in case there was a student sneaking out. She pivoted on her heel toward him, startling him a bit. "And I've been meaning to ask you… Why are you always late to duties recently? It's not a good sign of character to be late to everything, you know. Sometimes I wonder what Dumbledore was thinking when he appointed you Head Boy…" She said, shaking his head, but waiting for his response. He shuffled his feet, avoiding her glance. "Um, well…" He stalled, acting a lot more suspicious, compared to his usual obnoxious self. "I've been working on something, and it's not really going as well as I planned…" He explained, avoiding a real explanation. She stopped in front of him, making him freeze where he was.

"What exactly are you working on?"

James looked into her eyes. "Well, if you want, you can come and see…" He walked ahead of her, not stopping to see if she was following. Her curiosity getting the best of her, she followed him down to the grounds where they had been earlier. He pulled out a tiny box. She got closer to him, trying to figure out what it was. Upon close inspection, it was a small but very decorative box made out of some sort of glazed metal and colored stones. He opened it and tapped the large black stone inside, muttering something that Lily couldn't quite make out. Suddenly, the lake and trampled grass around them vanished, and it was like they had entered a different world. It was daylight, but Lily saw where the light of this illusion blended into the actual night. She tentatively took a few steps into the illusion. It was a large garden, full of flowers in bloom and blossoms of flowers Lily had never seen before. There was a large, pale blue flower that smelled rather like blueberries, and a tiny cluster of black-and-crimson striped leaves with a bright white flower in the middle that emitted an odor quite similar to mint. Lily lost herself in this little wonder, mesmerized and wondering how James did it. The garden looked so real. She turned to James. He was smiling, looking quite proud at how it turned out. Walking towards him, she kept stopping to gaze at the different species of flora.

"How did you do it, James? This isn't even any part of magic that I've read about or heard about!" She exclaimed. It might have been the first time she had smiled this genuinely around him.

"I had some help." He replied vaguely. "Do you like it?"

She thought about it, and then responded gently. "I love it."

His face broke out into a wide smile. "It won't last very long now. It's a large illusion and it's not meant to exist for more than a few minutes." As soon as he said this, the flowers started melting away into thin air as if they had never been there, but they really hadn't. As the last bit of the illusion disappeared, Lily heard a metallic click, presumably the illusion returning to the metal box. It took a few moments to adjust to the dark night around her. She saw James' silhouette bending down and removing something from the ground, but she didn't know what it was. When her vision came back, she looked at James. He was standing right in front of her, holding a single white lily in front of him, offering it to her. She blinked.

"Am I still a prat?" He questioned, placing the flower in her palm.

"Yes." She responded without thinking. Without answering immediately, she walked away from James, thinking about all of this. He was acting a lot kinder to her for the past week or so. Maybe he was making an effort? Her heart was quickly losing the battle, with only her passionate detestation for James keeping her from giving him a chance. She paused, looking out over the lake and trying to make a decision. _Okay. My decision is made._ She didn't turn around, but spoke calmly and rationally. "But, I'm willing to give it a shot."

Author's Note: The box wasn't intended to be a gift to Lily. It's just something James wanted to show her because he was feeling generous. The little metal box is actually supposed to be somewhat of a family heirloom that only fairies can work, and the way James got it to function correctly was by turning into a stag and talking to the fairies in his Animagus form. It took him several weeks to convince the fairies to tell him how to open it.


End file.
